Posts Tagged ‘Obamacare’
October 14th, 2011 by John Feehery
Never assume.
I usually get in trouble when I make assumptions and then challenge them.
I have been assuming for some time that the Republicans will easily beat Barack Hussein Obama.
I have been assuming that for some very good reasons.
For example, Obama is just not a very good President. He doesn’t have a clue how the private market place works. He is not much of a leader. His neo-Marxist philosophy is all out of step with our free-market system.
Even if you do like the President personally, it is still hard to make the case that he deserves to be re-hired. The economy is in terrible shape. Our country is “this close” to going completely broke. He has failed to take on entitlements in any serious way.
He has had some successes in the war on terror, but unfortunately for him, this election won’t hinge on Mr. Obama’s ability to give the order to kill terrorists.
That is what we all know, and that is why he is cracking 50% in his disapproval ratings.
But the Republicans can still screw this up. Here are a few ways BHO could still win: Read more...
Tags: 9-9-9 plan, afghanistan, American economy, Barack Hussein Obama, Bill Clinton, Dodd-Frank regulations, economic growth, Freedom Works, Hermann Cain, Hispanic voters, Immigration, Libertarian, Matt Kibbe, Mitt Romney, neo-Marxist philosophy, Obamacare, Republicans, Rick Perry, Super Pacs, Tea Party, Unemployment
Posted in GOP, Government, Politics, Presidential election, Theory, election, spending, taxes | No Comments »
October 4th, 2011 by John Feehery
Originally posted on THE HILL – October 3, 2011
It might be too early to start analyzing what went wrong with the Obama administration in its first three years, but I am going to do it anyway.
Here are seven turning points that led to the president’s decline and fall, seven places where Obama or his Democratic allies made critical errors that forever altered the course of his presidency. He hasn’t done everything wrong, but he has made enough mistakes to make his reelection extraordinarily difficult.
1. Failed to veto the initial stimulus package: Imagine for a moment if Obama had vetoed that initial stimulus package. Imagine if he insisted that Democratic leaders take out all the pork and cleanse the bill of unworthy projects. Imagine if he had insisted that congressional Democrats work with Republicans to include their ideas, because we are all in this together. He would have immediately branded himself as a different kind of president, as someone above the fray, as a leader who cares first about the country, not the Democratic Party. And if he had done that, he would have had the Republicans hopelessly divided. Of course, he didn’t take that step, congressional Democrats were able to walk all over him and Republicans stiffened up their resolve and presented a united front against the president and his plans. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Bush’s tax cuts, David Plouffe, Democrats, dollar, election, George W Bush, Government, healthcare, House Republicans, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Administration, Obamacare, olympics, Politics, Republicans, spending, White House
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, Politics, Presidential election, election, health care, medicare, national security, spending | 1 Comment »
September 29th, 2011 by John Feehery
It used to be that waivers were a bad thing.
It was bad to be put on waivers if you were in the NFL or played Major League Baseball. That meant you were out of a job.
Now, waivers are a good thing.
The Obama Administration announced that it was going to give waivers to the states of No Child Left Behind.
Too many states can’t meet the requirements of NCLB, so they are begging the Feds to give them a break.
If there is one thing that Mr. Obama and all the Republicans running for President agree on, it is that they don’t really love that landmark law legislated by John Boehner and Ted Kennedy and signed into law by W.
It’s too hard. Let’s give the states a waiver.
That, of course, begs the question: If the law is so bad, why don’t you just repeal it. Good question.
Mitt Romney promised that the first thing he would do if elected President would be to give waivers to all 50 states to the health care law signed by Mr. Obama. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Congress, Congressional laws, Democrats, Government, John Boehner, Major League Baseball, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, NFL, No Child Left Behind, Obama Administration, Obamacare, Republicans, Rick Perry, Social Security, taxes, Tea Party, Ted Kennedy
Posted in Bad Decisions, Bailouts, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, Laws, Presidential election, Promises, Theory, election, taxes | 1 Comment »
September 21st, 2011 by John Feehery
I was working out at the gym this morning (I know, miracles never cease), and I looked over briefly (I know, you don’t believe me), at the television and saw one of the hosts interviewing Rachel Maddow.
I am not the biggest Rachel Maddow fan in the world (ok, I am not really a fan at all) and I immediately assumed that the topic of conversation was on the President’s decision on “don’t ask, don’t tell”, an issue that apparently is important to the MSNBC host.
According to the headline blaring at the bottom of the television screen was “Is Obama losing his base?”
Interesting question, given that the previous day, the President struck a blow for some of his most passionate supporters by going through with change in a long standing military policy.
I will make this observation.
The President is not losing his base (if that is true) because he is moving to the middle. He is losing his base for largely the same reasons that he is losing the middle and losing the rest of the country.
Sheer incompetence. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats, don’t tell”, Economy, election, Gibson Guitar, Government, Msnbc, NRLB, Obama, Obama Justice Department, Obamacare, President Obama, Presidential election, Rachel Maddow, Republicans, Ron Paul, Ron Susskind, Sarah Palin, the Obama Administration, “don’t ask
Posted in Bad Decisions, Bailouts, Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, History, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, Unemployment, bad news, election, health care, spending, taxes | No Comments »
September 9th, 2011 by John Feehery
It was back to school night in the Feehery Household, so I missed the President’s address to the Congress.
Bummer.
I knew the President was giving a big speech because all the roads around the Capitol were closed, complicating my effort to find parking at Back to School Night (my son’s school is about 4 blocks from the white domed building).
I can’t say I was that disappointed to miss the speech. In my Congressional career, I saw plenty of joint sessions where a President makes this or that speech. I remember when George Bush the first gave an address to Congress where he tried, in vain, to shift his attention to the fascinating things that were happening in the rest of the world to a domestic agenda back here at home. But Bush didn’t have much of the “vision” thing, and he ultimately lost. Read more...
Tags: America, Americans with Disabilities Act, Back to School Night, Barack Obama, Bill Daley, Blacks, budget deficits, Bush tax cuts, Civil Rights bill, Clean Air Act, Congressional Republicans, Dodd-Frank, George Bush, Government, high unemployment rates, Hispanics, John Boehner, medicare, Native Americans, Obamacare, Osama Bin Laden, Persian Gulf War, Politics, President Obama, President’s address to the Congress, Republicans, Sam Skinner, short-term economic stimulus, Social Security, state and local unions, Supercommittee, TARP, taxes, The Obama speech, Unemployment, White House, Women
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, History, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, Unemployment, health care, housing crisis, speeches, spending, taxes | No Comments »
August 1st, 2011 by John Feehery
As we were driving back from the airport, my 5-year old son Jack asked me, “Daddy, what’s the debt limit?”
We had just flown in from Chicago. I had dropped off my son at grandma’s house, and drove up to Milwaukee for my 25 year college reunion.
The debt limit wasn’t just on the mind of my 5-year old. It was also on the mind of many of my friends and some other folks who I didn’t even know.
In the hotel coffee shop Sunday morning, the topic of conversation between two 50-year reunion participants was whether they had a deal on the debt limit or not.
They weren’t asking me. They were talking (loudly) among themselves. Their mood was more than a bit grim and frustrated.
At the reunion, my old classmates mostly traded old war stories and tried to remember who did what crazy thing when. It is amazing we all survived our college years (well, most of us survived at least).
When I first arrived on campus close to 30 years ago, Ronald Reagan was in his first term and the economy wasn’t doing very well. Reagan had an abiding sense of optimism and a hatred of communism, neither of which played particularly well with many of my college professors. Read more...
Tags: Bill Speros, college, Communism, Congress, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Republican, Ronald Reagan, Tea Party, Washington
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, History, Laws, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, gun control, health care, national security, spending, taxes | No Comments »
July 22nd, 2011 by John Feehery
In these days of intense partisanship and over-the-top rhetoric, it is somehow appropriate that the one thing that Congress would agree to repeal is the CLASS Act.
It goes without saying that our society has slipped more than a few notches when it comes to class. You go to a baseball game today, you have more of chance of seeing somebody’s buttocks hanging out of their pants then seeing somebody dressed up in a suit and a tie. When Babe Ruth was playing baseball, folks took care to look nice.
It used to be that the middle class wanted to look like it belonged to the upper class. These days, the upper class wants to disguise itself in ghetto garb.
It used to be that the airwaves were strictly regulated in what people could say. George Carlin made fun of the seven deadly words. Now, flatulence jokes are passé and our cable networks compete to shock parents and children alike.
So, for the Congress to repeal the Class Act seems entirely appropriate given the kind of society we live, although you could make the case that what America needs is more class and not less. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, CLASS Act, Community Living Assistance Services, Congress, Democrats, George Carlin, Government, Health and Human Services Secretary, health care, Katherine Sebelius, lower class, middle class, Obamacare, Politics, Republicans, spending, upper class
Posted in Bad Decisions, Bailouts, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, Laws, Politics, Promises, Theory, bad news, election, health care, medicare, spending, taxes | No Comments »
April 13th, 2011 by John Feehery
The President boldly put forward a brave plan to deal with our national debt problems.
First, he wants to increase taxes, especially on rich people, notwithstanding that he had an excellent chance to do exactly that 6 months ago by doing nothing but let the current law take its course, and he chose not to.
Second, he wants to keep his signature legislative achievement, Obamacare, in place. He believes that by rapidly increasing the government’s share of health care spending in this country, he will somehow bring down the deficit.
Third, he wants to pay doctors less and pay less for prescription drugs. That, in a nutshell, is his Medicare reform.
Fourth, he wants to cut defense, by a bunch.
Fifth, he wants to do nothing to Social Security. All good here. Nothing wrong with this program. He is going to leave it alone. Now that is real courage. How bold Obama has become.
Sixth, he wants to give the states some unspecified flexibility on Medicaid, but doesn’t want to give the States any real power to achieve savings. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, Economy, election, Government, health care, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Presidential election, Republicans, spending, taxes
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Government, Politics, Presidential election, Theory, health care, speeches, spending, taxes | 1 Comment »
March 15th, 2011 by John Feehery
House Speaker John Boehner has so far driven Congress in the right direction. He has negotiated successfully to cut spending and keep the government open. He allowed for an open process that delivered the largest discretionary spending cuts in the history of the lower body. He has gotten high marks from just about everybody on how he has risen to the occasion in difficult times. He has his hands firmly on the steering wheel and he seems to know where he is going.
He is getting some complaints though from the back of the car. They want to get to the destination right now. They want the Senate to accept all of the policy riders from the House. They don’t want any more of those short-term spending resolutions. They want to get their hands on the steering wheel because they think they can do a better job of driving the car.
Jim Jordan, who is head of the Republican Study Committee, is one of those back-benchers who says he isn’t going to vote for the continuing resolution. He is not going to put up with this strategy of stopping and starting. He wants to get to the final destination right now. He is joined by a familiar cast of conservative think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation, Tea Party Nation, the Family Research Council and Club for Growth, who believe that by continuing to pursue short term resolutions that cut spending, that somehow they are selling out conservative principles. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, Economy, Government, Jim Jordan, John Boehner, Obamacare, Republican, Republicans, spending, taxes
Posted in Economy, Government, Politics, Theory, spending, taxes | 1 Comment »
February 3rd, 2011 by John Feehery
John Boehner
You win some. You lose some.
Earlier this week, the Senate voted to repeal Obamacare.
The amendment failed, but that is not how either Mitch McConnell or Harry Reid saw it.
McConnell saw it as a victory for his long-term strategy of taking back the Senate. Next year, 23 Democrats are up for re-election, and now McConnell has them on record supporting a law that he thinks is politically toxic.
But Harry Reid also claimed victory. He kept his team unified and stopped the Republican momentum on this big issue.
You win some. You lose some.
Over in the House of Representatives, John Boehner is about to lead his troops into a months-long debate about the fiscal future of the country.
The debate will start with a continuing resolution, which is short-hand in Congress-speak for a law that keeps the government open. That debate will eventually lead into a vote on whether we should keep extending our national debt limit and then conclude with a vote on the budget plans for the next year.
Boehner has promised an open process.
What does that mean? Read more...
Tags: Harry Reid, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Obamacare
Posted in Theory, health care | No Comments »
Loading ...